sane - minsung

six

it had been 5 days, the home was quiet and the time has consisted of family bonding, mainly minho learning more about his son and what behaviors he was capable of.

the day jeongin and felix showed up, they were all to go out to dinner to see the other friends, but jisung was not in the best shape so they waited a few days until it was safe.

and tonight was the night the 'reunion' would be held. they planned to go to felixs restaurant and then all come back to minho and jisungs house, since it was the largest.

as of now it was 9 in the morning. the family was up and had just finished feasting on the delicious breakfast minho had made. "daddy, can i talk to you." the small boy tugs on his fathers shirt who is washing the dishes.

"give me a second, when i'm done cleaning." minho answers briefly not taking a glance at his child who was clearly desperate and in need of his attention.

"but dad-"

"minkyu, it can wait."

jisung sighed and took the dish minho was washing out of his hands. "go talk to him, i'll finish cleaning up" he knew it was most likely about their kids ongoing dream, and since he didn't know how to handle it, he'd  let minho take control of that.

minho smiled contently "thank you" he gave a peck on jisungs cheek and then averted his eyes to the child. "what's up?"

minkyu looked to the ground and fiddled with his fingers. it was clear he was nervous.

"do you want to go to another room?" minho asked and received a small nod from minkyu. the eldest took minkyus hand into his own and walked him into the living room where they were able to talk without jisung hearing.

the truth was, minkyu never told jisung about the way he acted in his dream. reason being he still thinks it's possible that if he says something wrong to his real father, that he'll turn crazy too.

"is everything okay, bub?" minho asks as they take a seat on the couch.

"you need to hurry, daddy"

"hurry?"

"it's getting bad bad. yesterday....in dream... i think, i don't know- yesterday dada shoved me when we were outside and my back hit one of the pillars on the porch. it hurt so bad and there was a big bruise." his voice was a bit shaken up but nothing minho couldn't calm.

"bub, dada would never hurt you in the real world, i promise."

"i know...but-"

"no buts. would you like for me to check your back to show you there is no bruise?"

the boy nodded and turned around to allow his father to lift up his shirt. and just like minho predicted, there was no bruise. "there's nothing there buddy. i told you, dada will never hurt you" minho pulled the boy into a hug and kissed the top of his head. it worried him to know that his child was now being harmed physically in the dream, because even though it was a dream, the pain still felt real, and the trauma will be with you forever.

he is being abused by his own father and that terrified minho... to know his son was going through something like that every time he shut his eyes and he couldn't do anything to help.

"can you tell me more about your dream? tell me what happened and why dada shoved you"

minkyu nodded. "dada picked me up from school a-and we were walking up to the porch to come inside. we were talking about something, i don't really remember what. but then dada said something about how we were going to visit your grave tomorrow...i didn't think dada would get so mad if i asked about how you died...i-i just wanted to find out because you wanted to know."

minho stared into the child's soft eyes. "hey, don't worry about me when you're dreaming okay? because i'll always be here when you wake up. now tell me why he shoved you exactly."

"he started yelling at me for asking and- and i yelled back saying daddy would have wanted me to know. then he shove me into a pillar as he pushed his way past me. he said "you never met your father, how would you know he would have even love a 'stupid bad-word brat like me'"

"don't listen to him, okay bub. i do love you very very very much." minho wanted to change the sulky and sad mood so he tickled minkyu and peppered him in little kisses. "you're the best boy i could have asked for."

minkyu giggled away the bad thoughts. "ah- stoooooopppp it tickles!" he squealed.

minho finally stopped and sat back a little worn out and laughed contently. minkyu took his time to catch his breath before starting up a new conversation. "daddy?"

"yes?"

"are you excited to see everyone tonight?"

in all honesty, that was a good question. was minho even ready to see his friends?

especially hyunjin.

they'd left off alright, but nothing was ever the same and they were never as 'close' as they used to be...you know...before the whole incident. it was hard for minho to forgive hyunjin for ruining the first half of his life and putting him in constant misery. but he's happy now, and if he hadn't been put through that trauma, he could have possibly never met jisung in the first place. so yeah, it took time, but he forgave hyunjin.

as for hyunjin...he wasn't left doing so well. after he apologized to minho and was sort of shut down, he slipped into a depressive episode that lasted almost a full year. his smile faded and his beautiful melodic laugh was mute. he didn't eat unless seungmin made him and he slept almost 20 hours a day. but after a while of self work and thought, he got better...somewhat.

because every once in a while, something will remind him how he caused misery and trauma for not only one, but two people. and that was enough to make everything fall apart repetitively.

so yeah, minho wasn't quite sure weather or not seeing everyone would bring joy or misery. he hadn't heard from hyunjin since the night he apologized after picking them up from the woods.

he remembers hyunjins last words he ever said to him... "it doesn't feel right to be sitting in front of you, while you're patiently listening to someone that you should've just killed. i'm sorry for still being alive."

deep down, minho kind of hoped he was doing okay.

"daddy?" minkyu asked, tugging on the shirt his father was wearing to get his attention. "you're spacing out, why?"

minho averted his eyes to his sons. "it's nothing, but yes bub, i am excited to go see everyone tonight."

(a/n: YALL HEAR TXT TEASERS??!??? NAH YALL DONT UNDERSTAND HOW FUCKING IN LOVE I AM WITH ALL OF THEM. LIKE KAIS LAUGH IN 'FREEZE'?!!?! AND 'ANTI-ROMANTIC' YES PLEASE. if y'all didn't know, i ult txt lol)